Where Android Apps Meet FisherP

Easy Reminder – The App You Forget

When thinking about my next app to review I had a bit of trouble since I have many really cool apps. I started thinking about the apps that I have almost forgotten I have because they work in the background and don’t make a fuss. Easy Reminder is one of those apps. I remember the first time that I missed a message on my first Android phone, the Deuce (U8520). It was a long time ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. I had left my new little phone face down on my dresser that very Saturday. When I returned to it hours later I noticed that I had missed an SMS from my wife. I was shocked and dismayed, “Why didn’t the phone let me know? It could have been important”. You see, my Motorola RAZR V3 would beep at me occasionally, in fact every feature phone I have had in the past used to beep at me if I missed a call or SMS. I was amazed that Google would have left this feature out of a smart phone. I went looking on the “Market”, as it was known then, to solve this problem.

What does the App claim it can do?

SMS Reminder setup page

The authors of the app claim “missed calls and unread messages (SMS/MMS) will no longer be a problem!“. They claim that you can set a periodic alert when you get a phone call or SMS and that you can set it to be silent at night when you are asleep.

Does the App REALLY do what it claims to do?

Quite simply yes it does. It’s a small app that doesn’t really do a whole lot. When the system tells it a call has come in and that you haven’t read the call log or message then it will beep at you at a period that you tell it to. It can be as persistent as every minute until you shut it up, or it can time out after an hour or so. It’s also true to its claim that it won’t wake you up at night when you are likely to be in bed and your “friend” gives you a drunken phone call at 3am that you can’t understand. You have to put your phone on silent without vibrate to escape the problem that you will get when the phone starts ringing in the first place… and there are apps for that.

What do I like most about the App?

I like that it works, no fuss, no muss. It doesn’t ask for 101 permissions and isn’t “Ad-Supported”. I like that I forget it’s there. I sometimes work in a noisy workshop with earplugs in. I get phone calls when my head is near to a fitter banging away at some piece of metal with a large sledge-hammer and a grinder is being applied to another. It’s comforting to know that when I leave the area of organised chaos that my phone will let me know if I’ve missed a call from the boss. Of the things I like about this app the thing I like the most is that I can forget that it’s there but it does it’s job anyway.

What’s not to like about it?

I’m struggling to think about something that I don’t like about the app. It is small, doesn’t claim to be able to bring about world peace, or make my coffee in the morning. I’m going to have to pass on this question, there’s really nothing to not like.

What are the little niggles (What would make it perfect)?

Maybe that there’s no wizard. It does take a minute to set up, not even that if you don’t set up the quiet time. A small wizard would make a really cool addition, it doesn’t have to be huge, just some simple questions and default values.

Why did I decide to keep/remove it?

I keep it because it simply just works. I’ve never, ever thought that I’d need to change it because of some niggly thing that it just doesn’t do right.

Would my wife use it?

Yes, and she does. I can’t remember if I helped her set it up or not. But it’s really not that hard and after it’s set up it kind of disappears.